FRIDAY JUNE 26, 2015
CHARITY TOURNAMENT
KIMBERLEY ELKS GOLF
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CRIME IN MOYIE
THEFTS, CABIN BURNED
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THE BULLETIN PROUDLY SERVING KIMBERLEY AND AREA SINCE 1932 | Vol. 83, Issue 122 | www.dailybulletin.ca
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$ 10 INCLUDES G.S.T.
$30,000 for trail extension
Re-allocated Resort Municipality funding will go to Mr. Toad trail C AROLYN GR ANT Bulletin Editor
PHOTO SUBMITTED
As school wound up this week there were all kinds of activities at all of Kimberley’s schools, including a track and field day at the Independent School. Above, students hopped their hats off in the sack race.
EK SPCA gets grant for spay and neuter program $84,000 will pay for spaying and neutering 950 cats TRE VOR CR AWLEY
The East Kootenay branch of the B.C. SPCA is getting some help to address a cat overpopulation in Cranbrook thanks to an $84,000 grant from PetSmart Charities. The grant will go toward spaying and neutering 950 cats in Cranbrook and surrounding areas this year, both owned cats as well as free-roaming felines in four colonies. “This grant from PetSmart Charities of Canada is fantastic news for Cranbrook. We have a constant intake of cats into our shelter,” says BC
SPCA East Kootenay Branch manager Brenna Baker. “There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t have a waiting list of cats to get into the shelter, looking for loving, forever homes.” A major focus of the BC SPCA’s five-year Strategic Plan is addressing B.C.’s massive cat overpopulation problem, as tens of thousands of outdoor cats are left to fend for themselves outside, suffering from illness, injury, starvation, predator attacks and more. Cranbrook has a large population of outdoor-living cats, and the grant will go toward sterilizing cats that would otherwise be left to reproduce, as well as assisting families TREVOR CRAWLEY PHOTO Staff and volunteers from the East Kootenay branch of the B.C. SPCA and individuals who are unable to spay or neuter their pet due to finanare benefitting from an $84,000 grant to spay and neuter cats. cial constraints.
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The success of such events as the Round the Mountain Festival illustrate the value of Kimberley’s trail system and the Kimberley Trails Society now has an additional $30,000 for the Mr. Toad extension project. The money comes from Resort Municipality funding that had originally been allocated to a bike skills park in 2014. It was decided not to proceed with the skills park, after a review of similar projects in other cities indicated that they are primarily used by local youth, not tourists. RMI funds are earmarked for tourist infrastructure. According to Tourism Kimberley, which operates the Visitors’ Centre, 30 per cent of those who drop into the Centre are looking for information on trails. This particular extension will be a connector trail in the Horsebarn Valley, enhancing the trail network directly above the Kimberley Riverside Campground. This will make the Horsebarn Valley and southern slope trail network more accessible and link into other trails, as an alternative to heavily used Nature Park Trails. Kimberley is growing as a host for adventure racing. The Round the Mountain Festival, the Enduro Race series and this summer’s inaugural Black Spur Ultra Marathon attract hundreds of out of town participants who stay with local accommodators and spend money in the community, reports the City’s Director of Economic Development, Kevin Wilson. 11 trail-based events took place in Kimberley in 2014, up from five the previous year. According to industry reports and the BC Provincial Tourism Strategy, trails use is the fastest growing element of the visitor economy in BC.